I have been reviewing a draft of a proposal from a few years ago that may prove to be a working model for our mixed method approach for evaluating GEAR UP 2012-2017.  There are several factors that make this a good conceptual model:  (1) first the age group for inquiry was geared toward adolescents--middle school age youth (2) interests in ecological/developmental factors that promote positive youth outcomes  (3) what makes GEAR UP successful as a gateway to post secondary education (4) building on best practices, the creation of a best practice GEAR UP model and (5) best practice and model for African American males. 

One more critical aspect that may support our efforts, this was a proposed mixed methods longitudinal study which works well in the context of GEAR UP programming which follows youth from middle school -high school.

I  tinkered with the model from the draft proposal and attempted to upload this to my blog but ran into a roadblock so i will attach this to my hard copy or send via email if that is more convenient. I replaced a few constructs to reflect GEAR UP's program characteristics and the areas we have identified as important in determining program impact.